Ten strategic sectors have been identified as having the best potential for selling system integration solutions to overseas markets. The Taiwanese economy limped along in 2015 as an export slump pushed GDP growth down to an estimated 1%. That anemic performance was Taiwan’s worst since the global financial crisis of 2008-2009, when the economy went…
AmCham Taipei recently released the results of its sixth annual Business Climate Survey soliciting the views of key executives at its member companies (a report on the major findings can be found within this issue of TOPICS). The survey is always conducted at the end of the calendar year and made public in mid-January after…
ASE-SPIL Saga Enters New Phase Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc. (ASE), the world’s largest semiconductor chip packaging and testing company, on December 22 launched an NT$42.35 billion (US$1.28 billion) tender offer for another 24.7% stake in rival Silicon Precision Industries Corp. (SPIL). ASE already acquired 25% of SPIL in September and is looking to increase its…
Following Bloomberg’s relegation of Taiwan to its inglorious Recession Club for 2016, along with economic disappointments Ukraine, Russia, and Brazil, Deputy Minister Kao Shien-quey of the National Development Council sought to reassure the public that “this year should not be so bad.” She said she sees the economy as likely to bottom out in the…
Taiwan’s Submarine Project Resurfaces Taiwan’s two major political parties appear to be in agreement on prioritizing the acquisition of submarines, which many experts see as vital in augmenting Taiwan’s defense in the face of China’s rapid military expansion. China has more than 1,100 ballistic missiles trained on Taiwan, along with large fleets of advanced fighter…
The newly elected DPP government has stated its intention to strengthen Taiwan’s defense industry as a way to both enhance national security and expand the economy. Taiwan’s National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology has already demonstrated its capability to develop various types of weaponry, including advanced missile systems, and the Aerospace Industry Development Corp. –…
Taiwan’s determination to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) multilateral trade pact at the earliest opportunity is becoming increasingly evident. Following release early in November of the full text of the agreement recently concluded among the United States, Japan, and 10 other countries, the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Bureau of Foreign Trade began studying the documents’…
Taiwan’s Economy Contracts in Q3 The economy shrank by 0.63% in the third quarter this year, the first contraction since the recession of 2009, following lackluster second-quarter growth of only 0.57%. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) forecasts continued sluggishness through the end of the year, predicting growth of just 0.49% in Q4….
Surprisingly, the weakest performance this year is in the Trading Across Borders category. The recently released 2016 edition of the World Bank’s 13th annual Doing Business survey shows Taiwan (or “Taiwan, China” as the World Bank insists on calling it) doing rather well, ranking in 11th place out of the 189 economies included. But Taiwan…
2015 did not bring the expected strong performance for the Taiwan economy. Growth for the year is now likely to come in at a disappointing level of under 1%. The outlook for next year seems better – but recent experience has shown that forecasts so far in advance are subject to too many variables to…
